Monthly Archives: March 2013

As I was walking through the downtown streets, I could see the myriad of cars and trucks, honking incessently and hoards of people clumping amongst each other at the street corners. This was just city life as I knew it. But, sometimes the banality of life leads one to ponder what is driving all the pressures and chaos all around. Seemingly, everyone was coming from all directions, there was no order, it was a random series of events all congealing in the downtown core. I pitied the urban planners who had to try and organize this chaotic mess.

I had crossed this exact spot, time and time again, yet just accepted everything for what it was. Today, for what ever reason, I became an observer of my daily predicament. What was driving this chaos? Simple, I thought. It was all the people!

Then I noticed a few blocks away a few intersections that caught my eye. When I really paid attention, there seemed to be something quite amiss. The timing of the lights seemed to be very long creating long cues and frustration. Interestingly, the noise and chaos seemed to start at these very spots

Even though there were lots of traffic lights downtown, these ones appeard somewhat more chaotic than usual. Then I was reminded of the old principles of quality management and the 80/20 rule, whereby a relative few account for the bulk of the effect. I concluded from my observation that the majority of the chaos seemed to start at this point, so much so, that 20% of the lights likely contributed to 80% of the traffic chaos.

So, taking this lens I observed my life to understand where the chaos lay to control it more effectively. The vital few also pertain to the goals we desire in our lives. We simply can’t do everything at the same time; we need to prioritize our goals so we can have enough personal energy to draw on during the journey. Focusing on a few things allows us to eliminate the white noise we encounter and position ourselves for success.

John Schmoll presents How Should You Spend Your Tax Return? posted at Frugal Rules, saying, “The average tax return is nearly $3,000. Receiving that sum of money all at once can lead to easy temptation. Make sure you make wise decisions with that money, whether it be paying off debt or investing for the future so you can make the money work for you.”

Steve Jackson presents 10 Tenets of Extreme Couponing posted at Housekeeping, saying, “Even though things have changed, you can still manage to save quite a bit of money by taking your couponing to another level.”

Don presents The Importance of Failing posted at Breath of Optimism, saying, “Are you afraid to fail? I hope you answered no to that question because the only way you are going to be successful in life is to first fail.”

Byteful Travel presents How David Allen’s Mental Sweep Saved my Brain posted at Byteful Travel, saying, “Last week, I woke up and realized that I had far more projects swirling around in my head than just those that I’d written down in my Next Actions list for the day. I needed to do a core dump of my brain, and I knew it.”

As I was walking downtown the other day I couldn’t help but wonder how all these stressed out souls passing hurriedly by were managing with their income. Were they slaves to the nine to five grind because they needed the next paycheck to pay for their lives that they spent already in the future? Did they have their entire income riding on just one job? Were they happy to scurry into the glass towers lining the street every day? I was intrigued.

People tend to focus more attention on buying a car then they do on figuring out how to manage sources of income to live their life. Many people simply jump on the bandwagon and join the nine to five grind, repeating the same mantra, each and every day, in the hopes of one day jumping off to live their life. Putting all your eggs in one basket can leave you vulnerable to life’s happenstances. As such, it’s important to broaden to the extent possible different ways you earn income. Banks tell us every day to diversify our investments, so too should we diversify our income streams.

To develop diverse sources of income, you need to invest in time to do other things. It’s easier than you would have imagined because when you do activities that are fulfilling, it doesn’t feel like work; rather, it’s considered a pursuit. Your energy level usually increases, your focus remains positive, and you become happier. This is an investment in your future. It will take some time and effort, but you’ll never regret the outcome.

As you progress in diversifying your income, you’ll reach the tipping point, that point when things begin to happen. If you’ve invested in an online business, for example, you may see that your online community has suddenly come alive by interacting with you. Your name is being recognized in other online sites or blogs. You may have sold a product or book, or landed a new client. You’re coming of age. You’re beginning to realize diverse income streams.
Soon your income streams will allow you to step back a little from your full-time income generating job. This isn’t the time to lose focus; you need to keep on track until you have reduced your reliance on a single source of income. This risk diversification strategy will reduce your vulnerability to life’s happenstances and most important, reduce your levels of stress.

Have you found ways to diversify your income?

Feel free to share your answer in the comments.

Other Time Trading Gurus

Time

Jana presents Being Rested: How It Sets You & Everyone Around You Up For Success posted at Blog, saying, “When we take care of ourselves by giving ourselves what we need first, we not only set ourselves up for success, but we become more productive, get things done faster, and set everyone around us up for success as well. Being rested and centered is one of these tools.”

John Schmoll presents Financial Advisor Compensation – Why it Matters posted at Frugal Rules, saying, “A financial advisor can be a great way to help you grow your portfolio when you have long term goals in mind. Make sure you do your homework and hire one that you feel right about and best fits your needs and goals.”

Jon Rhodes presents Napoleon Hill – The Secrets of How To Think Rich posted at HypnoBusters, saying, “This article illustrates the great Napoleon Hill who closely and personally followed hundreds of geniuses over more than 20 years. These geniuses included people like Henry Ford and Thomas Edision. He boiled down this information and found the traits that you can acquire to become successful and rich. This is a fasinating source of wisdom straight from a fountain of success.”

There are times when I wonder, if in fact, I’m reaching my potential or if I’ve resigned myself to the life I have. Yet, in all, I still maintain a strong sense of longing for new experiences. Looking back at the things I’ve done in my life, I’ve come to the realization that I’m indeed living up to my potential. Not only that, I continue to push myself to reach all that I dream for. So, how do you know if you’re actually reaching your potential? There are several things to look for:

You have realistic self-worth and balanced perceptions of things around you. In other words, you’re not denying the truth.

You help yourself by helping others help you, kind of like the paying it forward dynamic.

Allow yourself to be open to the experiences around you.

Focus on being an observer to your thoughts and allowing yourself to fully think and dream.

Seek to stop and experience life through life breaks.

If you embrace your dreams and wishes, you’ll take that crucial step to become what you want to be. It’ll transform you. Really! Keep this in mind as it’s an important point to remember when you catch yourself in moments of doubt. This is no different from the childhood dreams we weaved in our younger years, those dreams that gave way to a higher learning, new relationships, and career. Yet, somewhere along the way we took the wrong turn and ended up in a job we didn’t like or perhaps a relationship without a solid foundation. Regardless, we somehow lost our will to pursue all our dreams, we lost our passion, and we lost our desire to dream.

We can redefine ourselves with new dreams or reveal ourselves in the dreams we always held. If you take a real concerted step forward to realize your dreams, you’ll become empowered with every step you take along the way. The pursuit of new experiences will tell you that you indeed “can.” From here you begin to believe more strongly in your potential. This behavior will set change in motion. People around you will begin to realize your successes and this in turn will give you confidence and further strengthen the drive to realize your goals because, through the process, you proved to yourself that you “can.”

The pursuit of our dreams is to change the way we feel. It’s an emotional journey that we take to bring contentment to our lives.

Are you dreaming to reach your potential?

Feel free to share your answer in the comments.

Other Time Trading Gurus

Time

Shaun Rosenberg presents How to Set Priorities posted at Shaun Rosenberg, saying, “Sometimes we just have too much going on. How can we avoid getting overwhelmed and still accomplishing what is important? Well we have to set priorities. Here are some things to consider when setting yours.”

Flexibility

Ryan Costello presents Blog :: Dad Creek Without A Paddle posted at dad-creek-without-a-paddle.webnode.com, saying, “It’s funny how your perspective on life changes the closer you get to the birth of your first child. The thought of becoming a parent is at times very scary, but the thing I’m finding the most strange is how easy my outlook is changing. Read more: http://dad-creek-without-a-paddle.webnode.com/blog/”

Money

Peter Buscemi presents Developing a Unique Selling Proposition posted at Four Quadrant, saying, “The creation of a unique selling proposition is one of the most difficult tasks an organization will address so leverage a value proposition example for best results.”

The Author

Robert Renaud is one of the newest thought-provoking writers on living life more fully. His book The Time Trading Guru shows how to instantly reach dreams using the DREAM process and leveraging the levers of life: time, flexibility, and money. Here, he writes about a blueprint to escape the workplace, take 'life breaks,' and start living again.

Robert Renaud live interview on DayTime Ottawa show. you can watch it here.

The Time Trading Guru

The Time Trading Guru gives you a blueprint to living life more fully. Use the DREAM process and the levers of life: time, flexibility, and money to escape the workplace, take 'life breaks,' and become personally fulfilled.